| (1) |
An owner of land, a person in control of land or a person who occupies or uses the land on which— |
| (a) |
any activity or process is or was performed or undertaken; or |
| (b) |
any other situation exists, |
which causes, has caused or is likely to cause pollution of a water resource, must take all reasonable measures to prevent any such pollution from occurring, continuing or recurring.
| (2) |
The measures referred to in subsection (1) may include measures to— |
| (a) |
cease, modify or control any act or process causing the pollution; |
| (b) |
comply with any prescribed waste standard or management practice; |
| (c) |
contain or prevent the movement of pollutants; |
| (d) |
eliminate any source of the pollution; |
| (e) |
remedy the effects of the pollution; and |
| (f) |
remedy the effects of any disturbance to the bed and banks of a watercourse. |
| (3) |
A catchment management agency may direct any person who fails to take the measures required under subsection (1) to— |
| (a) |
commence taking specific measures before a given date; |
| (b) |
diligently continue with those measures; and |
| (c) |
complete them before a given date. |
| (4) |
Should a person fail to comply, or comply inadequately with a directive given under subsection (3), the catchment management agency may take the measures it considers necessary to remedy the situation. |
| (5) |
Subject to subsection (6), a catchment management agency may recover all costs incurred as a result of it acting under subsection (4) jointly and severally from the following persons: |
| (a) |
Any person who is or was responsible for, or who directly or indirectly contributed to, the pollution or the potential pollution; |
| (b) |
The owner of the land at the time when the pollution or the potential for pollution occurred, or that owner’s successor-in-title; |
| (c) |
The person in control of the land or any person who has a right to use the land at the time when— |
| (i) |
The activity or the process is or was performed or undertaken; or |
| (ii) |
The situation came about; or |
| (d) |
Any person who negligently failed to prevent— |
| (i) |
The activity or the process being performed or undertaken; or |
| (ii) |
The situation from coming about. |
| (6) |
The catchment management agency may in respect of the recovery of costs under subsection (5), claim from any other person who, in the opinion of the catchment management agency, benefitted from the measures undertaken under subsection (4), to the extent of such benefit. |
| (7) |
The costs claimed under subsection (5) must be reasonable and may include, without being limited to, labour, administrative and overhead costs. |
| (8) |
If more than one person is liable in terms of subsection (5), the catchment management agency must, at the request of any of those persons, and after giving the others an opportunity to be heard, apportion the liability, but such apportionment does not relieve any of them of their joint and several liability for the full amount of the costs. |
Public Service Commission Act, 1997
